That strange pair of scissors with several stacked blades is almost certainly a pair of herb scissors, and the whole point of the extra blades is to cut soft fresh herbs into small even pieces in a single snip, straight over the pan or bowl. I say almost certainly because a tool sitting in a drawer with no packaging can’t be named with total confidence. But the design is a giveaway. Here’s the part people get wrong, though: these aren’t a do-everything gadget. They shine on soft leafy herbs and go a bit clumsy the moment you ask them to handle woody stems or anything you want cut at a very specific size.
Why Herb Scissors Have Five Blades
A regular pair of scissors gives you one cut per snip. Stack five thin parallel blades together and you get several cuts at once. So one squeeze turns a bunch of chives into a neat little pile of small pieces, no cutting board required.
That’s really the entire idea. You hold the herbs over whatever you’re cooking and snip basil, parsley, cilantro and green onions directly into it. No board to wash, no knife to wipe down, no stray leaves rolling off the counter. For a quick garnish it’s genuinely faster than the whole knife-and-board routine.
The one predictable annoyance is that bits of herb wedge themselves between the blades. Most sets ship with a small comb or cleaning tool for exactly this reason, and some pairs are built to pop apart so you can rinse each blade properly. If your pair has that little plastic comb rattling around in the box, don’t toss it. You’ll want it.
If you like the logic of tools quietly designed for one job, the weird toothed part on kitchen scissors is another one worth a look.
The Herbs They Handle Best
Soft leafy herbs are the sweet spot. Basil, parsley, cilantro, chives, dill, mint. These are the ones the blades were built for, and they respond beautifully.
Basil is the standout. Stack a thick pile of leaves, roll them loosely, and a few snips give you small even shreds without bruising the leaves. Basil browns fast where it gets crushed, so a clean cut actually keeps it looking greener on the plate. Chives are almost the perfect candidate too, since they’re already long and thin and just need chopping down.
Green onions work well. So do some tender leafy greens if you want them roughly cut rather than precisely diced. The rule of thumb I keep in my head: if the herb is delicate and you’d normally chop it with a light hand, the scissors will do fine. Anything you’d have to lean into with a knife is probably the wrong job for them.
When a Knife Still Wins
Woody herbs are where these run out of road. Rosemary, mature thyme with tough stems, anything stiff and fibrous. The blades want to slide off or crush rather than cut cleanly, and you end up snipping the same spot over and over.
A knife also wins whenever cut size matters. If you want a proper fine mince, or long ribbons, or big rustic pieces, you get far more control with a blade and a board than with a fixed set of parallel cuts.
I’ll admit I reach for mine without thinking when there’s a small handful of parsley to deal with. It’s just quicker than dragging out the board. But for a stubborn sprig of thyme I go straight back to the knife, and I stopped fighting the scissors on that a while ago. Knowing which jobs suit the gadget is honestly half of getting your money’s worth. And when the knife starts feeling dull, that’s a separate problem worth sorting out.
Are Herb Scissors Worth the Drawer Space?
Honest answer: yes if you chop soft herbs often, no if you barely touch them. They’re a real time-saver for a garnish or a quick handful, and close to pointless if fresh herbs rarely make it into your cooking.
Cleaning is the deciding factor for most people. Use the comb, or rinse the blades right after you cut. Leave herb bits sitting between five blades and they dry into a green crust that’s a pain to dig out later.
